Eating a healthy and well-balanced diet is essential to ensure that your body can operate correctly. The foods that we eat all contain a variety of different vitamins and minerals that the body needs to be able to do what it does. These do all sorts of things, from helping your immune system to fight off infections, to keeping your skin healthy as well as lots of other important jobs.
Something that is neither a vitamin nor a mineral but is a crucial part of a healthy diet is omega 3. Omega 3s are essential fats that your body is not able to make itself so must get them from the food that you eat.
One of the best sources of this is from oily fish – things like mackerel, sardines and anchovies for example. The fish eat a marine alga that is rich in this and that is then transferred to us when we eat the fish. However, if you are vegan or you just don’t like fish, you are better off getting your omega 3 from supplements like these omega 3 supplements https://www.vitortho.co.uk/supplements/categories/omega-3 to ensure that you are getting enough of it in your diet.
Another issue is the fact that many fish nowadays come from fish farms so they may not be getting enough of the algae in their diet to be as beneficial as it should be, so even if you eat fish as part of your diet, it may not be that you are getting enough Omega 3.
Omega 3 plays a lot of different roles in the body. Firstly, it is hugely beneficial to heart health and in particular for helping to reduce blood pressure, as well as cholesterol.
They can also be beneficial to mental health, with studies linking them to reduce the risk of mental health conditions like depression.
They also help to protect against age related concerns – firstly, they help with brain health and can reduce the risk of illnesses like Alzheimer’s, and also, they help support good vision and reduce the risk of eye degeneration. They are also good for illnesses linked to inflammation such as arthritis.
For pregnant women they are particularly important, as the growing baby needs omega 3s for the development of the brain and the nervous system.